The History of the
Department of Social Work

The Department of Social Work was established in the academic year 1969 -1970 as part of the Department of Sociology. In 1983 the Department of Social Work became an autonomous department within the College of Liberal Arts.  Offering the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree, the department has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since 1974.

In 2000, the Department of Social Work was transferred from the College of Liberal Arts to the newly created School of Applied Sciences where it currently resides with four other departments.  In 2003, the Department of Social Work began offering courses on a part-time basis at the Desoto and Tupelo campuses.  In the fall of 2006, the faculty began to offer a full-time BSW program at the Tupelo Center and expanded the BSW program at the Desoto Center to a full-time program in August 2008.

In February 2007, the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) approved the University of Mississippi to offer the Master of Social Work (MSW) Degree.  The faculty in the Department of Social Work began offering the MSW Program in August 2008.